Meeting the Goals of Marketing - Case of Glenmeadie - Essay Example

? Analysing a Case Study Part The main purpose of this essay is to find out the key issues in the case study. The case study deals with the issues related to the marketing plan of Glenmeadie. Glenmeadie is a scotch whiskey distiller company. The company is well known for its long term operation in the market and continuous supply of excellent quality products. The company has organized marketing campaign in 25 cities offering a program which is known as the Tastemakers Program. The purpose of this campaign is to build a personal connection of the customers with the products. There are several issues arising while organizing this campaign. Firstly the company has focussed mainly in conducting several marketing programs in various cities of the United States for the promotion of its products as well as interaction with the customers. The problem arises due to the fact that conducting such programs requires huge marketing expenses. The company have to take steps towards its cost control. The program conducted in New York, for the purpose of direct interaction with the customers, went over budget. The company is cutting its expenses related to the Research & Development, but greater concentration is required in this field in order to bring an innovation in its products. Although the company has developed strong interactive capabilities on its own website and many other customer interfaces in order to build a strong customer connection with its brand, but half of the cost is utilized due to the conduction of these marketing programs resulting in insufficiency in funds for Research & Development. Ellis Cameron, the master distiller of the company has pointed out the fact that too much of the expenses is being made towards enhancing strong customer relations. He said that the company is neglecting the basic needs of the customers. Despite of the age and reputation of the company, it is attempting to increase its revenue relying on the marketing efforts only. Ellis Cameron also mentioned disapproved the new strategy that was taken by the company for product development. According to him, the company should focus more on its product quality than building customer relations. The conduction of these marketing programs can make the customers feel the taste of its products, but that will not make them the permanent customers unless the product quality is superior. The sale of the company is increasing, but the lift of sales is not too high to justify the huge expenses that are being made in the marketing programs. The success to these programs is being achieved by cutting down the expenses for product innovation. In this way the company is losing track to its priorities. The company needs to make effort to reduce the marketing expenses in order to bring a solution to these issues. Part 2 The company that is chosen in order to relate to the key issues of marketing is Starbucks. It has been successful to achieve the most successful position both in the domestic land as well as globally. It follows a unique marketing strategy which helps it to grow consistently and set an example for other businesses. The promotional strategy that the company follows is online advertising. The company possesses a strong online community which has been created by its expansion in the social media. The website of the company and its blogs attracts the customers. The marketing strategy of Starbucks can be linked with the case study as it believes in maintaining a strong relationship with its customers. The right interface between the company and its user is advantageous for the company to achieve competitive advantage over its competitors (McDaniel and Gitman, 2008). The company actively engage its customers in the open discussions for their feedback. It is well known for its product quality. The product quality of Starbucks forces the customers to stick to its products even if the prices are high. This can be related to the company in the case study as Glenmeadie believed in the superiority of the product in order to distinguish itself from its competitors. After achieving success in product diversification, Starbucks is taking steps towards the market extension in order to enter into the developing markets of the South East Asian countries. The company does not only focus on the marketing of its brand and the product portfolio. It aims to achieve leadership in the market by satisfying its customers with improved quality of products and services as a value for their money (Theodore, 2002). The strategic alliance of Starbucks with other renowned brands has helped the company to achieve success by creating awareness about its brand among its customers, without the implementation of direct promotional strategies. It follows the strategy of making strategic alliances with different companies in order to extend its operations to the new markets. After achieving success in the domestic market, the company is planning to expand its business to the other parts of the world. It has built a large number of distribution channels. This can be linked to the case study where Glenmeadie has a large number of distribution channels to expand its operations. The alliance of the company with its retail partners like Bloomingdale’s in US, Mitsukoshi in Japan, Harrods in UK etc. has helped it to achieve success in the global market. The strategic alliance of Starbucks with National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), which works for the social welfare of the deprived sections of the society, has helped the company to promote its brand without giving extra efforts on the advertisement of its products. It has also helped the company to build a strong position in the international market. It will help the company to develop new technologies and implement advanced strategies in future. Starbucks serves both the middle as well as the high income people. It has launched various products at various prices. The company has also focussed on the tastes of the young generation. The company has lowered down the prices of it’s VIA brands, so that it can be easily afforded by the young generation of the society. Thus the company makes its marketing strategies based on the customers’ needs and preferences. Part 3 Starbucks divides its market into small segments of customers based on their needs and demands and different marketing mixes. This part of the project will show how the marketing strategies followed by Starbucks are relevant to the points mentioned in the case study. At first an analysis of the marketing strategy of Starbucks will be done and then it will be shown that how these strategies are linked to the key points in the case study and the impact of these strategies on its marketing. The analysis is being done based on its marketing mix planned for a definite market: Price- Starbucks follows a premium pricing strategy. It has already been mentioned in part 1 that a company should always focus on maintaining the product quality. This pricing strategy is applied by Starbucks in order to portray that the product quality offered to its customers is the best among all the products available. This can be said to be a pricing strategy based on the psychology of the customers. There is a perception of the customers that the price of a product is directly proportional to its quality (Frangos, 2009). The customers prefer good quality products as it they provide a value for their money. This behaviour of the customers benefits the company to gain competitive advantage over its competitors. Even if the prices of the products are not easily affordable by everyone, people tend to buy the company’s products because of their quality. However, the company lowered down the price of the VIA brands in the UK so that it can be afforded by the British people from all sections of the society. The pricing of the products also depends upon their cost prices also. Product- Starbucks has designed a product named VIA Ready Brew. It is a product serving the demand of those customers who are usually in a hurry and hardly have any time to opt for freshly prepared coffee. Opening the packet and mixing the product in hot water serves the purpose of a freshly prepared coffee. Starbucks is the preferred brand for most of the people in the UK and USA because of its product diversification. The launch of the VIA brand in the USA and the UK market with comparatively lower prices has helped the young generation to afford for it. Promotion- An effective promotional strategy should be chosen by a company which will help to add a brand value to its products (Business 101 — The Basics, 2004). The promotional strategy that is followed by Starbucks is advertising on television or social media networking. Advertisements provide information related to opening of any outlet by the company, introducing new flavours of beverage and the feedback from its customers. It also follows the sales promotion strategy for the promotion of its products. The company builds public relations by making several community services like giving donations. It can also conduct several programs which will help the company to provide information about its brand and product quality to the current generation (O’Guinn, Allen and Semenik, 2011). Social media also helps to promote the brands of the company. Place- Starbucks has established strong distribution in the global market by opening more than 20000 retail stores around the world. The company is operating all over the USA with 6700 owned and 4080 licensed stores. It has launched the VIA brand in the UK in the year 2009 and later in many other countries like Canada, Japan, Philippines etc. There are a large number of retail channels throughout the world which sells the products of Starbucks. The brand VIA Ready Brew was launched by the company throughout the USA. This brand became very popular soon after its launch. The company has made a good progress in the recent years and is taking steps towards entering into new and developing markets of the South East Asian countries. Thus the key issues that have been mentioned in the case study can be linked with the strategies that are implemented by Starbucks. It focuses on the product quality as well as on the promotion of the products. It is well known for its customer service and product excellence. It focuses on the customer satisfaction by maintaining the product quality. The interface of the company with its users will help to build a long term relationship with them. The company is taking step towards expansion by opening a large number of distribution channels. Research scholars such as Burrow (2011) and Sandhusen (2000) have said that organizations need to plan marketing strategy in terms of marketing mix, segmentation and target market in order to achieve success in competitive business environment. Thus it can be inferred that the company has achieved a position in the market by successful implementation of the marketing strategies. The objective of a company is to meet the goals of marketing. In order to do that a right marketing mix is to be selected by the company. The promotional strategy of a company should always be aimed at retaining the existing customers and providing a wide mix of products available. While implementing the different marketing strategies, it should manage the marketing expenses simultaneously so that the expenses are not too high. Higher marketing investment should result in the growth in sales. A combination of the traditional and non traditional techniques should be used by an organization in order to achieve competitive advantage in the market. The marketing efforts should result in increased profitability. A company should also focus on the customer satisfaction along with the product quality. Even if the company’s product excellence lies at the top still customer interface is the most important tool for the success in the industry. This will help the company to gain customer loyalty. The customers will have the belief that it provides high quality products with attractive services. The companies need to change their marketing mix according to the change in the customer choices. Thus the right marketing strategy is the balance between the initiatives taken for marketing and product development. References Burrow, J. L., 2011. Marketing. 3rd ed. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Business 101 — The Basics, 2004. Product Promotional Strategy. [pdf] Available at: < http://faculty.piercecollege.edu/rskidmore/Ghost/library/Chapters/CHPT13-04.pdf> [Accessed 26 February 2013] Frangos, C. C., 2009. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference: Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies in the Economic and Administrative Sciences. London: Christos Frangos. McDaniel, C. D. and Gitman, L. J., 2008. The Future of Business: The Essentials. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. O’Guinn, T. C., Allen, C. T. and Semenik, R. J., 2011. Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Sandhusen, R. L., 2000. Marketing. 3rd ed. Hauppauge, New York: Barron's Educational Series. Theodore, S., 2002. Expanding the coffee experience: Starbucks keeps sales brewing with new products, innovation and global expansion. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 February 2013]. Yahoo Finance, 2013. Key Statistics. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 February 2013]. Read More